Station-indicator



(No MgdeL) i N. W. ALLE sTTIoN INDICATOR.

1897. Patented Deo 28 lllllllllllllllllllll ll l 1 l l l l l n lIllllllllllllllllllllA lllllllllllllllllllllllll lI llll .l

lllllllllllllll l l n www' V NITED STATES PATENT rricn.

'oRRIn'wALTERALLEm or BUTTE, ivIoN'rAi\fA. A

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters ratent Ne. 596,284, dated neeember28,1897.

` Appiieetitn ined Detente 2', 1896. sentirte. 614,199. (Neasden) Y Toall whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ORRIE WALTER ALLEN, residing at Butte, in the countyof Silver Bow and State of Montana, have invented a new and usefulStation-Indicator, of which the following is aspecication.

This invention relates generally to stationindicators,"and moreparticularly to a station or street indicator adapted for use in railwayand street cars to be operated bythe con? ductor.

The object of the invention is to provide an exceedingly cheap andsimple device which can be attached to the cars now in use and can beeasily operated by the conductor, and another object is to provide astation-indicator which can be easily reversed any time, so as toindicate correctly the stations as the car travels back and forth over adefinite route.

With these various objects in view my invention consists in the peculiarconstruction of the various parts and in their novel combination orarrangement, all of which will be fully described hereinafter, andpointed out in the claims.

' In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l is aview showing the practical application of my invention.' Fig.- 2 is adetail perspective view of the indicator mechanism. Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view. Fig. i is a front elevation. Fig. 5 is a detailperspective view of the valve operative reverse and pawl. Fig. 6 isadetail perspective view showing the belt tightener. Fig. 7 is a detailperspective View of one of the journals. In carrying out my invention Iemploy a casing A, having an opening B in the front thereof, throughwhich a ribbon D, bearing the naine of the station, is exposed. Theribbon D is attached to and wound upon the upper roller E and lowerroller F, said rollers being journaled between uprights G, mountedwithin the casing A, the shafts of said rollers being iitted in thejournal-bearings II, which are secured in the uprights, as most clearlyshown in Fig. 2, said bearings being provided with lugs H,Which securelyhold them against rotation. The end of the roller E extends beyond theuprights G at each side, and upon one end is arranged a toothed disk I,while at the opposite end is arranged a sprocket K.

A bifurcated lever L is attached to the end of vthe roll adjacent to thetoothed disk I, said lever carrying the pawls M, which pawls are adaptedto engage the teeth of the disk I, and in order to hold one pawl inengagement while vthe other pawl is out of engagement I employ a stopdevice N, which is secured to the lever by means of a set-screw N',sothat the said stop will restdirectly above the pawl to be held inengagement.`

In thedrawings I have shown the lefthand pawl in engagement, so that theoperation of the'lever will wind the ribbon lupon the roller E.

When it is intended to reverse the motion of the ribbon, the stop N isdetached from the lever, reversed, and attached to the opposite side.The operation of the lever will then cause the top roll E to unwind theribbon, which ribbon is then wound upon the bottom roll F, and in orderto transmit the -motion from the top to the bottom roll I employ asprocket chain or belt O, which passes around the sprocket K at the endof the top roll and the sprocket K upon the end of the bottom roll, saidbelt or chain being held taut by means of an idler-sprocket P, mountedupon the end of a plate P', which is slotted longitudinally, as at P2,and is adjustably secured to a plate P3 by means of a screw P4 and nutP5. rlhe plates P' and P8 have their opposing faces serrated, as shownat P6, so that the plate P can be adjusted in or out and readily securedin the adjusted position. This action will permit the sprocket chain orbelt to be tightened whenever desired. Guide-rolls R are arrangedbetween the uprights G, near the front of the casing, in order to holdthe ribbon close to the opening in the casing. The lever L will ofcourse be provided with suitable spring-actuated means for returning itto its normal position after it has once been operated. Operating beltor stop S is attached to the lever and extends to the conductorsplatform, from which he can readily operate the indicator.

It will thus be seen that I provide an exceedingly cheap and simpleconstruction of station-indicator, andthe operation of the same is asfollows: The conductor pulls upon the straps S,wh`ich operate the leverL, so that the pawl engages the toothed disk and moves IOO the saine inthe desired direction step by step, which operation Winds up the ribbonupon one roll and unwinds it from the other roll, and in so doing theribbon is caused to pass across the opening` in the casing, and on thisribbon are the names of the diierent stations. Moreover, it is clearthat at each operation of the device the name of the proper station isbroughtinto view. lVhen the end of the route has been reached, the stopN is removed from the lever L, reversed, and attached to the op positeside of the lever. The device is then ready for operating in a reversedirection. Should the drive chain or belt become slack at any time, theidler-sprocket can be adjusted to take up the slack.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a station-indicator, the combination of snpporting-frame, tworolls journaled in said frame, the shaft of one of them projectingbeyond said frame, two guide-rolls also journaled in the frame, a ribbonon which appear the names of the stations passing over the guide-rollsand having its ends secured to the winding-rolls, a toothed `disk on theprojecting ends of the Winding-rolls, a bifureated lever straddling saiddisk, a reversible pawl mounted 'in said lever, a removable andreversible device adapted to be placed and secured in reversiblepositions on the said lever, and a set-screw for securing it in place,all substantially as set forth.

2. In a statioirindicator, a frame or combination with an upper andlowerwinding-roll mounted in said frame Willi their shafts projecting throughthe side thereof, sprocket- Wheels mounted on these projected ends, asprocket chain around and engaging said Wheels, a plate secured to theside ofthe frame having teeth on its outer side, a second plate mountedon the first and having corresponding teeth to engage those of the iirstplate, a screw to adjust the position of these plates with relation toeach other, and a sprocket mounted on the adjustable plate and adaptedto be adjusted in contact with the sprocketwheels, all substantially asset forth.

onlinr WALTER- ALLEN.

XNTitiiesses:

E. T. MCKINSTRY, C. H. MONTAGUE.

